Edward Burne-Jones. Born on this day in 1883

One of the last Pre-Raphaelites, Burne-Jones rejected the industrial world of the Victorians, looking instead for inspiration from medieval art, religion, myths, and legends.

An older tribute to Burne-Jones: https://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/2017/08/todays-birthday-edward-burne-jones.html?fbclid=IwAR0bv4YFwXk3birKvuLTV6ynEXbdrUd90drZjEqg6PO7o1LFYjeN3C_le4o

National Dog Day

 Mr. Cosway's Spanish dog.By George Stubbs

Ringwood

Foxhounds, At the Tate. Creative Commons

King Charles Spaniel 

George Stubbs, (born Aug. 24, 1724, Liverpool, Eng.—died July 10, 1806, London), outstanding English animal painter and anatomical draftsman. I knew about his paintings of horses which are the most superb in English art but I didn't know about the dogs. Since today is National Dog Day, it seems that showing his paintings of dogs is the right thing to do. 

The son of a prosperous tanner, Stubbs was briefly apprenticed to a painter but was basically self-taught. His interest in anatomy, revealed at an early age, became one of the driving passions of his life. His earliest surviving works are 18 plates etched for Dr. John Burton’s Essay Towards a Complete New System of Midwifery (1751). In the 1750s Stubbs made an exhaustive analysis of the anatomy of the horse. He rented a farmhouse in a remote Lincolnshire village, where, over a period of 18 months, he undertook the painstaking dissection of innumerable specimens. After moving permanently to London in 1760, Stubbs etched the plates for Anatomy of the Horse (1766), which became a major work of reference for naturalists and artists alike. Stubbs soon established a reputation as the leading painter of portraits of the horse. His masterly depictions of hunters and racehorses brought him innumerable commissions. Perhaps more impressive than the single portraits are his pictures of informal groups of horses, such as Mares and Foals in a Landscape (c. 1760–70).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Stubbs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stubbs

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/stubbs_george.html

Lavinia Fontana. One of the most important painters in 17th century Bologna

Self Portrait at the Spinet, 1578 by Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) / Accademia di San Luca, Rome, Italy

From Galleria degli Uffizi, Lavinia Fontana, Noli Me Tangere (1581), Oil on canvas, 47 3/8 × 36 5/8 in

Lavinia Fontana, (born 1552, Bologna [Italy]—died August 11, 1614, Rome), Italian painter of the Mannerist school and one of the most important portraitists in Bologna during the late 16th century. She was one of the first women to execute large, publicly commissioned figure paintings.

Fontana studied with her father, Prospero Fontana (c. 1512–97), a minor painter of the school of Bologna, who taught his daughter to paint in the Mannerist style. By the late 1570s she was known in Bologna for painting fine portraits, including Self-portrait at the Spinet and the very formal Gozzadini Family (1584). The attention to detail in her portraits is reminiscent of the work of another northern Italian Renaissance painter, Sofonisba Anguissola. Fontana’s works were admired for their vibrant color and the detail of the clothes and jewelry that her subjects wore.

Portrait of a Girl Covered in Hair by Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) / Photo © Bonhams, London, UK / Bridgeman Image

This bizarre portrait is of a real girl. Antonietta Gonzalez (1594-1595) and her family suffered from a rare genetic condition known as hypertrichosis or “werewolf syndrome.” Luckily, due to the belief that divine purpose lay behind their unusual appearance, instead of being ostracized, they were welcomed into the courts of Europe. Historians have speculated that Lavinia Fontana met Antonietta in Parma.

Visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon

Vincenzo I Gonzaga and his wife Eleonora de’ Medici are depicted in the guise of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This Old Testament story was chosen because the Gonzaga family of Mantua claimed ancient connections with the Queen of Sheba.

This painting was apparently inspired by an actual event that occurred in 1600, when the Dukes of Mantua passed through Bologna on their way to attend the wedding of their relative Maria de’ Medici who was marrying Henry IV of France

Fontana also produced many religious paintings; among her best was Noli me tangere (1581). Some of her most famous works are large altarpieces executed for the churches of her native city. In addition, in 1589 she painted the altarpiece Holy Family with the Sleeping Christ Childfor El Escorial in Madrid. After about 1600—when she executed Vision of St. Hyacinth, a work commissioned by the cardinal of Ascoli—Fontana’s work was introduced to Rome; she moved to Rome three years later and continued painting portraits and altarpieces. In 1604 she painted her largest work, the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, an altarpiece for San Paolo Fuori le Mura in Rome, a basilica that was destroyed in the fire of 1823. Her Visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon is her most ambitious surviving narrative work. She was elected a member of the Roman Academy, a rare honor for a woman.

In 1577 Fontana married the minor painter Gian Paolo Zappi. Their marriage was unique for the era. In fact, unique for any era where the woman is an artist. 

 Fontana was married without a dowry on the assumption that she would earn her income through painting. Her marriage contract required that she and her husband remain in her father’s household, and that Fontana would continue to contribute to the family’s workshop. Though a painter himself, Zappi recognized his wife’s talent and acted as her agent and assistant, prioritizing her career as an artist. 

He was willing to subordinate his career to her own; he also became her agent and remained supportive throughout their marriage. She continued to work, becoming even more famous and giving birth to eleven children. After her marriage, Fontana sometimes signed her work with her married name. She enjoyed the patronage of the family of Pope Gregory XIII and painted the likenesses of many eminent people. 

Isabella Ruini, as semi-naked Venus. Watch out for her arrow! 

Bianca degli Utili Maselli surrounded by her five sons, one daughter, a slightly dazed dog and a bird. Fantastic study in family resemblance, richly ornamented clothing and lace.

A less sartorially splendid family painted by Lavinia Fontana. The mother, at the far right, looks rather grim. 

Silk and velvet before the armor: Minerva Dressing, 1613, possibly the first female nude painted by a female painter. 

Fontana could not join the Carracci School because the institution emphasized the drawing of nudes—and women were not allowed access to nude models. Fontana did not let that discourage her. She proceeded to paint nude figures anyway, like in the case of Minerva Dressing (1613). Some scholars claim that Fontana was the first woman to paint female nudes, though this is difficult to prove. Later in life she was elected to the Roman Academy, increasing the value of her paintings and allowing her to collect art and antiques herself.

Is she Prudence with her mirror and snake, or Urania (muse of Astronomy) with her globe and dividers? Either way, she is another nude painted by Lavinia Fontana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavinia_Fontana

https://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/lavinia-fontana

From 'Endymion' (1818) bk. 1, l. 835, John Keats

But who, of men, can tell

That flowers would bloom, or that green fruit would swell

To melting pulp, that fish would have bright mail,

The earth its dower of river, wood, and vale,

The meadows runnels, runnels pebble-stones,

The seed its harvest, or the lute its tones,

Tones ravishment, or ravishment its sweet,

If human souls did never kiss and greet?  Keats 

At the Asian Now

The tattoo show has closed but there is still plenty to see... but some won't be up for long. 

Incredible bamboo sculpture that stretches from wall to wall. I was told it only took 2 weeks to make. This soaring, twisting form stretches from floor to ceiling. He is the 4th generation of a famous family of Japanese bamboo artists.

EXHIBITION Tanabe Chikuunsai IV: Connection Through Aug 25

FEATURE EXHIBITION Changing and Unchanging Things: Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan Coming Soon

COLLECTION GALLERIES Renovated Third-Floor Collection Galleries Ongoing

CONTEMPORARY ART Liu Jianhua: Collected Letters Ongoing

With Collected Letters, Liu Jianhua, one of China’s foremost installation artists, has created a thought-provoking work of art that blends the classic and contemporary. Commissioned by the Society for Asian Art for the Asian's 50th anniversary, Liu’s striking installation links the building’s past as San Francisco’s Main Library with the museum’s distinctly forward-looking mission. It’s almost as if an old book has been plucked off a shelf and shaken out, its shattered sentences ejected and frozen as art.    Each of the installation’s 1,600 pieces was handmade by Liu and a team of 20 ceramic artists over five months in Jingdezhen, China’s renowned center for porcelain production. Weighing in at over a ton, Collected Letters is supported by a special steel grid rigged to the Loggia’s ceiling — an engineering triumph that blends this modern wonder into its historic surroundings.    “I’m not interested in creating a straightforward, clear-cut piece,” the artist says. “This work is better if people take the time to think about it. I’m just leaving the building blocks, it is for them to construct their own meaning.”    http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/LiuJianhuaBetween

Happy birthday to Francesco Zuccarelli!

Happy birthday to Francesco Zuccarelli 

He was born #onthisday in Pittigliano, Italy, 1702.  In his softly colored, gentle landscapes, Zuccarelli placed more importance on lyricism than on realistic details

Zuccarelli apparently began his artistic training very early with Paolo Anesi and later worked in Rome with Giorgio Morandi and his pupil Pietro Nelli. After returning briefly to Florence, he moved to Venice in about 1732 and became associated with the Venetian school.

The facile technique, atmospheric light, and classical pastoral character that typify his picturesque Arcadian landscapes were especially appealing to the English. 

Three Dancing Nymphs and a Satyr,1702–88,  At the Met.  Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite

He visited England twice: at the end of 1752, remaining for 10 years with great success at painting landscapes, and again from 1765 to 1771. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy (1768), and he became one of George III’s favorite painters. Zuccarelli had been elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763 and became its president in 1772. In addition to doing much work at Bergamo, he was for a time in Paris, and in the last two years of his life he returned to Rome and afterward to his native Tuscany. In addition to landscape paintings, Zuccarelli executed innumerable drawings, a few religious paintings, engravings, and tapestry designs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Zuccarelli

Women in Art. For those women imprisoned for protesting against the compulsory hijab laws in Iran.

For Yasaman Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz who have been sentenced to 16 years in prison for handing out white roses as a symbolic protest against compulsory hijab laws in Iran #womensart

World Calligraphy Day

For #WorldCalligraphyDay, here’s a copy of a page from the Otho-Corpus Gospels made by antiquarian Thomas Astle for his book, The Origin and Progress of Writing. It was made before the disastrous Cotton Library fire of 1731 (1/2) (link: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_otho_c_v_f025v) bl.uk/manuscripts/Vi… (link: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=1247&CollID=21&NStart=106) bl.uk/catalogues/ill…

California Summer

Upcoming Facebook Changes

Important to know as many use FB as their primary vehicle on the Internet

• Facebook groups are the future. Facebook is focusing on privacy and making the user experience more intimate. That’s what the algorithms are going to start catering to. If you don’t have a reader group, you should start one.
• The things we post on Facebook should create meaningful interactions. If they don’t, your post is less likely to be seen and suppressed in the algorithms.
• Group Admins are responsible for all group activity. If content is posted in a group that goes against Facebook’s Terms of Service (TOS) or Community Standards, admins are at risk to lose their personal profile, their business page, and their group. Admins can be shut down with no recourse.
• Negative ratings reflect poorly on the admin team. Negative ratings are the angry face, the sad face, member reported content, and the number of people who block you. These things also reflect poor ratings on groups and suppress reach. Facebook wants the user experience to be positive. Sad or angry face reactions tells Facebook that the user is having a bad experience, therefore diminishing your organic reach.
• Post approval process is a responsibility. Admins should have post approval turned on in groups to protect themselves from negative ratings. Questions should be asked for new joins. It’s the admins responsibility to monitor and know who they are allowing in their group.
• Contest, giveaways, and free downloads are being suppressed by Facebook. If you are saying “get this free” or “enter this giveaway,” those posts are being suppressed by Facebook. This goes back to creating meaningful interactions. Authors need to stop using the traditional language and start getting creative on how they post contests, giveaways, and free books if they want their posts to be seen.
• When members leave the group, they have the choice to take all of their content with them. This applies to admins as well. So if you had an admin that posted great content and then they leave the group, they have the ability to take their posts out of the group.
• Teach readers to leave a reaction, not a LIKE. Liking a post means nothing to the Facebook algorithm. It does not qualify as an engagement. Readers need to LOVE it, react with SHOCK, or use the LAUGHING reaction. This shows positive user experience and will help your organic reach. Comments also boost your reach and GIF’s give you the highest ranking in the algorithm.
• You CANNOT tell users how to react. In other words, you can’t say things like “Love this post and...” or “Comment below and…” Those phrases will suppress your reach because they are considered engagement baiting. What you should say is something like, “Leave me a heart and…” Engagement baiting includes words like COMMENT, VOTE, REACT, SHARE, TAG.
• Sales posts on your page and in your group should be less than 20%. Facebook doesn’t want an abundance of “buy my books” posts because they don’t create meaningful interactions.
• Authors should reduce takeovers or change how they are phrased. The word TAKEOVER is being suppressed. Instead, have a PARTY, an AUTHOR GATHERING, or EVENING ENTERTAINMENT.
• Reduce the number of admins in the group. Again, this goes back to admin responsibility. The group admins should be you and only one or two other trusted sources.
• Create Group Rules within Facebook (not just pinned in the announcements or written in the ‘about’ section of the group). They set the tone for the group and gives you something to point to if someone is not following the rules. It is your responsibility to make sure everyone is on the same page, or you risk losing your account with no recourse.
• Link your group to your page. Facebook is going to be coming out with features that are specific to business pages that have groups.
• Be a conversation starter in groups. Earn the badge. It shows you are creating meaningful conversations. Readers are like you. If you like to see something on Facebook, chances are that they will like it too.
• Understand Facebook Community Standards and know that it’s a robot screening your content. It’s important to work within those rules in order to be present on social media. Understanding and following these standards will help boost you in the algorithms and help your ad approvals.
• Newsfeed is shrinking. Stories are merging with the newsfeed. Messenger is being favored. Take the time to look through all the available options in Messenger. Messenger is soon going to be separated from the desktop, meaning it will be its own entity. WhatsApp and Messenger will be contained and can be used for direct selling. Remember, Facebook is moving to “the future is private.”
• Ads are targeting new avenues. You can no longer have a small budget for Facebook ads and expect it to be successful. You need to understand targeting or you’ll be wasting money. Start testing ads in other ways that are not on the newsfeed.
• Going LIVE is no longer on Facebook’s radar as an organic algorithm piece. If you didn’t go live often before, this is good news for you. If you are one who utilized it a lot, you’ll need to find other ways to boost organic reach.
• Links in posts can be determined click-bait, or something that flags the Click Gap Signal. The Click Gap Signal is a measuring of inbound and outbound link patterns of a site that is being linked out from Facebook. Facebook will reduce the reach of a post if the number of clicks from Facebook is higher than it is in other areas of the internet. In other words, if more people are going to your website via Facebook versus an organic Google search, your post will be considered click-bait or spam. Facebook will suppress it and/or shut down your account. While that might not be true, that’s what the algorithm will see.
• Facebook is tracking the link funnel. This means Facebook will follow where the link is going. This could also trigger the Click Gap Signal. Authors should send people to their newsletter or their website, as opposed to Amazon or iBooks. Here’s why: Your website is controlled by you. If a reader clicks on your Amazon link, they’ll find your books, your reviews, and your bio. You might think everything on your Amazon page is completely in line with Facebook’s Community Standards (no naked covers, no foul language, no erotica, etc). However, also-boughts and sponsored books leading to another book that DOES violate the Community Standards is also being analyzed. If the Click Gap Signal happens to fall on a page with questionable content, your reach is suppressed and your ads could be denied (even if you have no control over sponsored Amazon ads on your page). What’s more, the Click Gap Signal can flag you for the reviews on your books. If a reviewer uses negative keywords, bad language, etc, your reach will be suppressed.
• Facebook now has the ability to scan images for content that violates Community Standards. Be careful with those erotic book covers and steamy teasers.
• Groups deemed harmful on Facebook will be shut down. As per the statement put out by Facebook “…we identify and remove harmful groups, whether they are public, closed or secret. We can now proactively detect many types of violating content posted in groups before anyone reports them and sometimes before few people, if any, even see them.” This is a reaction to the New Zealand Massacre. Unfortunately, some people in the romance book world are being targeted by this based on keywords found by bots. They are losing their groups and their accounts are being shut down. Hence the reason why authors need to monitor group content and understand the Community Standards.
• Sharing is not caring. Sharing from your page to your timeline/newsfeed is against the Terms of Service. By dropping your page link in a Sharing is Caring post, you are putting yourself at risk to have your account shut down. Sharing posts made on a page you are the admin of is also a no-no. Facebook wants page content to stay on the page. However, if a reader (a non-admin of your page) shares a post from your page, the complete opposite happens. This boosts your ranking in the algorithms. Facebook views this as positive content because a reader cared enough about the post to share it. If someone comments on that readers shared post, you get an even higher boost.
• Don’t limit yourself to one platform. Stories, groups, Messenger, and ads are where you need to be on Facebook, but you should also be on other platforms. Move readers away from Facebook to other areas. Spread out your reach. You shouldn’t build your entire business on one platform that you have no control over.
• Peer-to-peer networking is now bigger than ever. Authors should utilize each other.

https://theadminzone.com/threads/upcoming-facebook-changes.151078/?fbclid=IwAR0ALoberM56rvBsyKj-D8dlLzQjEdR5DwcxpDFr3_iK7OAfsl9ISplczwU